Open Access Article
Jintang Wang
*ab,
Zihua Shaoa,
Yujing Baia,
Guolei Hec,
Xudong Wangd,
Lei Liua,
Bo Liao
a,
Xiaohui Suna,
Kaihe Lva and
Jinsheng Suna
aSchool of Petroleum Engineering, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, China. E-mail: wangjintang@upc.edu.cn
bKey Laboratory of Metallogenic Prediction of Nonferrous Metals and Geological Environment Monitoring (Central South University), Ministry of Education, Changsha 410083, China
cInstitute of Exploration Techniques, Chinese Academy of Geosciences, Langfang 065000, China
dShandong Institute of Petroleum and Chemical Technology, Dongying, 257061, China
First published on 3rd March 2023
The exploitation of natural gas hydrates (NGHs) by traditional methods is far lower than the commercial target. Calcium oxide (CaO)-based in situ supplemental heat combined with depressurization is a novel method for effectively exploiting NGHs. In this study, we propose an in situ supplemental heat method with the sustained-release CaO-loaded microcapsules coated with polysaccharide film. The modified CaO-loaded microcapsules were coated with polysaccharide films using covalent layer-by-layer self-assembly and wet modification process, with (3-aminopropyl) trimethoxysilane as the coupling agent and modified cellulose and chitosan as the shell materials. Microstructural characterization and elemental analysis of the microcapsules verified the change in the surface composition during the fabrication process. We found that the overall particle size distribution was within the range of 1–100 μm, corresponding to the particle size distribution in the reservoir. Furthermore, the sustained-release microcapsules exhibit controllable exothermic behavior. The decomposition rates of the NGHs under the effect of CaO and CaO-loaded microcapsules coated with one and three layers of polysaccharide films were 36.2, 17.7, and 11.1 mmol h−1, respectively, while the exothermic time values were 0.16, 1.18, and 6.68 h, respectively. Finally, we propose an application method based on sustained-release CaO-loaded microcapsules used for the supplemental heat-based exploitation of NGHs.
NGH reserves have been preliminarily estimated at ∼1100 × 108 tonnes of oil equivalent (toe) in China, of which ∼800 × 108 tonnes of NGH reserves are located in the sea areas of China, accounting for twice the amount of conventional natural gas resources found in China. Natural gas has advantages over coal and petroleum, such as high calorific values, low carbon emissions, no waste residues and no wastewater produced after combustion, and high safety. In the future, the petroleum demand is expected to continuously decrease, resulting in natural gas becoming a major supplementary energy source. As a bridge energy source that drives the transition from conventional to clean energy, natural gas will play a leading role in promoting the transformation of the energy mix and will be vital toward establishing a low-carbon, environmentally friendly, safe, and efficient energy system in China, as well as realizing China's goals of peaking carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality before 2060.6,7
Currently, China relies heavily on natural gas imports, with considerable unmet demand for natural gas in China. Although practical experience has been accumulated and theoretical techniques have been developed after multiple attempts to perform the trial exploitation of NGHs worldwide,8–10 a complete theoretical system is still lacking to guide the exploitation and utilization of NGHs. Most theoretical systems are still being verified, while the current exploitation methods are subject to limitations (e.g., low production efficiency, harsh exploitation conditions, expensive materials, high environmental risk, phase changes in sand production and wellbore, and unstable production). Thus, according to the current situation, it is challenging to achieve the safe and effective commercial exploitation of NGHs, and the exploitation of NGHs needs to be improved. Commercially exploiting NGHs is currently a well-explored research area.
A novel exploitation method was proposed for NGHs using calcium oxide (CaO) as the in situ supplemental heat source.11 This method can directly inject CaO into the fractures of the NGH reservoir to react exothermically with water to promote the decomposition of the NGHs and supplement the decreased amount of heat in the reservoir during the later stage of decompression-based exploitation of NGHs. The reaction product is calcium hydroxide, which is highly permeable and can effectively fill up the pore spaces formed after the decomposition of the NGHs. The key to employing CaO as the supplemental heat source is controlling or reducing its exothermic rate during the hydration process to ensure compliance with project requirements. If the exothermic rate of CaO in an aqueous solution is too high, a massive amount of the heat liberated will be lost in the wellbore, leading to failure in effectively injecting CaO into the formation to promote NGH decomposition. Using an alcohol-based vehicle to inject CaO into the formation will lead to increased operational costs and combustion-related safety and environmental issues. To date, delaying the exothermic process of CaO has been rarely investigated. The surface modification of CaO can help increase the exothermic duration from 25 to 75 min.12–14 Since the 1980s, microencapsulation has been successfully applied to the pharmaceutical field, followed by extensive application and development in the food, chemical, and textile industries. Microencapsulation can be applied to encapsulate active molecules to isolate and protect them, release them in a controlled manner, and improve their compatibility and dispersion. As CaO reacts exothermically with water, microencapsulation application to the field of CaO has not been reported to date.
In this study, we have proposed a layer-by-layer (LbL) film coating method to fabricate CaO-loaded microcapsules and modified the CaO powdered surface to make its surface hydrophobic to physically block the flow of water. The surface modification and multilayer coating of CaO powder were mainly achieved by the coating, adsorption, and reaction of surface modifiers (or surface treatment and coating agents) on the powdered particle surface. CaO-loaded microcapsules, with good prospects for large-scale commercial production due to their advantages of low cost, easily accessible raw materials, and mild reaction conditions, can be injected into the reservoir using the water-based fracturing fluid, in which CaO is released in a sustained release manner to react exothermically. This strategy will significantly contribute to the effective exploitation of NGHs.
| S/N | Name | Purity | Manufacturer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chitosan | Analytical pure | Macklin |
| 2 | NaIO4 | 99.5% | Macklin |
| 3 | Cellulose powder | Analytical pure | Aladdin |
| 4 | (3-Aminopropyl)trimethoxysilane | 97% | Macklin |
| 5 | CaO | Analytical pure | Macklin |
| 6 | Anhydrous ethanol | ≥ 99.7% | Aladdin |
| 7 | Sodium chloride | Analytical pure | Sinopharm Hushi |
| S/N | Name | Model | Manufacturer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Magnetic stirring apparatus | MS-M-S16 | Scilogex, United States |
| 2 | High-speed centrifuge | TG16-WS | Cence, China |
| 3 | Laser particle size analyzer | Mastersizer 3000 | Malvern, United Kingdom |
| 4 | Transmission electron microscope | JEOL JEM 2100F | JEOL, Japan |
| 5 | Scanning electron microscope | Regulus8100 | Hitachi High-Tech Scientific Solutions (Beijing) Co., Ltd |
The Schiff base linkage is a dynamic covalent bond formed between amino and aldehyde groups, which can serve as the driving force to construct functional polysaccharide films and has advantages over other non-covalent interactions formed during the layer-by-layer film coating process. Specifically, Schiff base linkages can help construct films that are highly stable under unfavorable conditions and can be formed in an aqueous or inorganic solution and between the unreacted active and functional groups (e.g., aldehyde and amino groups) in multilayered films, which can be further used to realize the ideal properties and applications of the final materials.
Silicon hydroxyl groups formed via the hydrolysis of the amino silane coupling agent form hydrogen bonds with the hydroxyl groups on the CaO surface and undergo dehydration and condensation reactions to produce covalent –Si–O–R bonds (R denotes CaO). The hydrophobic groups of the silane coupling agent are grafted onto the CaO surface to form coatings to obtain hydrophobic surface-modified CaO (R–CaO). The functional amino groups on the R–CaO surface can be stably linked via Schiff base linkages to the aldehyde groups of multi-aldehyde cellulose. The Schiff base reaction can occur between the functional amino groups on the molecular chain of chitosan and active substances with the aldehyde groups, and multilayered films can be effectively coated using the Schiff-based layer-by-layer coating principle to provide long-lasting hydrophobic effects. Fig. 2 shows the layer-by-layer coating process.
:
5. Fig. 3 shows the reaction mechanism for the oxidation of cellulose using NaIO4. After magnetic stirring for 6 h at 20 °C under dark conditions, 3.5 mL of ethylene glycol was added, and the solution was stirred for 30 min to terminate the oxidation reaction. Five volume equivalents of absolute ethanol were added to the reaction mixture for precipitation. The suspension was subjected to 10 min of vacuum drying in an electrothermal blowing drying oven heated at 40–60 °C to obtain the multi-aldehyde cellulose powder.
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1. CaO (20 g) was fully dispersed in the silane coupling agent solution, followed by stirring for 40 min at a stirring rate of 200 rpm. The resulting dispersion was centrifuged at 8000 rpm for 10 min and then subjected to 10 min of vacuum drying in an electrothermal blowing drying oven heated at 70–90 °C to obtain R–CaO.
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1. R–CaO was then added into the dispersion of multi-aldehyde cellulose, followed by magnetically stirring for 20 min at a stirring rate of 200 rpm to obtain a suspension. The suspension was centrifuged at 8000 rpm for 10 min, and the collected product was dried at 70–90 °C for 10 min to obtain the CaO-loaded microcapsule coated with a layer of film (1R–CaO). 1R–CaO was then mixed and stirred in the dispersion of chitosan at a stirring rate of 200 rpm for 20 min to obtain a suspension, which was centrifuged at 8000 rpm for 10 min. The collected product was subjected to 10 min of vacuum drying in a vacuum drying oven heated at 70–90 °C to obtain the CaO-loaded microcapsule coated with two layers of film. The same operations were repeated until the CaO-loaded microcapsules coated with specific layers of films were obtained. The CaO-loaded microcapsules coated with multiple layers of films (nR-CaO; n denotes the number of assembled layers) were dried at 70 °C before use.![]() | ||
| Fig. 4 TEM-EDS images of the elemental distribution of 3R–CaO: (a) 3R CaO, (b) 3R CaO, (c) Ca, (d) O, (e) C, and (f) layered EDS image of Si. | ||
| Elements | Line type | k-factor | k-factor type | Absorption correction | wt% | wt% Sigma | At% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | K line | 2.739 | Theory | 1.00 | 15.21 | 0.69 | 27.11 |
| N | K line | 3.477 | Theory | 1.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| O | K line | 1.998 | Theory | 1.00 | 34.24 | 0.59 | 45.80 |
| Si | K line | 1.000 | Theory | 1.00 | 0.43 | 0.11 | 0.33 |
| Ca | K line | 0.982 | Theory | 1.00 | 50.11 | 0.61 | 26.76 |
| Total | — | — | — | — | 100.00 | — | 100.00 |
The sample surface morphologies of CaO, 1R–CaO, and 3R–CaO fabricated using absolute ethanol as the dispersant were observed using SEM (Fig. 5). Fig. 5a shows that the CaO crystals have regular and smooth surfaces. After the surface modification and multilayer coating process, the particle surface becomes rougher and gradually loses its edges and corners.21 Covalent bonding and physical adsorption of the polysaccharide coating lead to an increase in the particle surface roughness. As the thickness of coated films on the irregular particle surface is anisotropic, the particle morphologies become increasingly irregular during the assembly process.
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| Fig. 6 Curves and histograms obtained for the pre-reaction cumulative particle size distributions of CaO, 1R–CaO, and 3R–CaO. | ||
To further analyze the effects of water on the particle size of the CaO-loaded microcapsules, the particle size distributions of CaO and the CaO-loaded microcapsules were observed on a Malvern Mastersizer 3000 after being fully reacted with distilled water. Fig. 7 shows the curves and histogram obtained for the cumulative particle size distributions of CaO, 1R–CaO, and 3R–CaO in distilled water. CaO and the R–CaO-loaded microcapsules swell in water and react exothermically with water, and the microcapsules exhibit increased particle sizes after being soaked in distilled water. Specifically, the increased particle size of 3R–CaO was greater than that of CaO; particle sizes for D10 of CaO and 3R–CaO were 2.58 and 4 μm, respectively; particle sizes for D50 of CaO and 3R–CaO were 15.6 and 26.4 μm, respectively; particle sizes for D90 of CaO and 3R–CaO were 73.9 and 128 μm, respectively. The pore sizes in the NGH reservoir are primarily distributed between 10–100 μm.22 During their application, the particle sizes of CaO for the coated layers were appropriately controlled based on the pore throat structure of the NGH reservoir to correspond to the particle size distribution of the reservoir. The calcium hydroxide produced after the reaction could effectively fill up the pore spaces in the reservoir and support the rock matrix.
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| Fig. 7 Curves and histograms obtained for the cumulative particle size distribution of CaO, 1R–CaO, and 3R–CaO after their reaction with distilled water. | ||
Fig. 9 shows the exothermic effects of CaO, 1R–CaO, and 3R–CaO. Specifically, the peak temperature time values for CaO, 1R–CaO, and 3R–CaO are 0.16, 1.18, and 6.86 h, respectively, suggesting that the exothermic time of the CaO-loaded microcapsules coated with layers of films was significantly increased. In addition, the different particle sizes lead to different film thicknesses, rendering particles hydrophobic to varying degrees. Therefore, the heat of the reaction was gradually released throughout the process and the delay effects of R–CaO increased with an increasing number of assembled layers, as depicted by the exothermic curves. Based on the synergistic effects of the surface modification and layer-by-layer film coating process, the polysaccharide films help to significantly reduce the direct contact between water and the R–CaO surface. Schiff base films, which possess self-healing properties, can help maintain the balance between valence bond rupture and reformation when the outer coating of CaO is destroyed to prevent the continuous ingress of water.23
The amount of heat liberated when the reaction of CaO takes place in the reactor can be calculated using the following formula:
| QCaO = Qout + QH2O | (1) |
The amount of heat absorbed by water can be calculated using the specific heat capacity formula as follows:
| QH2O = cmΔT = cm(T2 − T1) | (2) |
The exothermic reaction formula for CaO is shown below:
| CaO(s) + H2O(l) = Ca(OH)2(l) ΔrHm = −64.9 kJ mol−1 | (3) |
Computational findings show that the amount of heat liberated when 6 g of CaO fully reacts with water is theoretically QCaO = 6944 J.
Gas hydrate heat of dissociation:25
![]() | (4) |
![]() | (5) |
Fig. 10 shows the results calculated by the aforementioned formulas. Specifically, the actual amounts of heat liberated during the reactions of CaO, 1R–CaO, and 3R–CaO are close to that calculated theoretically and can thus be used to predict the amount of decomposed NGHs. In addition, 6 g of CaO can cause 127 mmol of NGHs to be decomposed, while the decomposition rates of the NGHs subjected to the effects of CaO, 1R–CaO, and 3R–CaO are 36.2, 17.7, and 11.1 mmol h−1, respectively, indicating that the R–CaO-loaded microcapsules can effectively reduce the reaction and exothermic rates of CaO in water to delay the reaction and heat released and can be injected into the reservoir and effectively utilized.
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| Fig. 10 Prediction curves obtained based on the amount of heat liberated during the reaction of CaO and the amount of decomposed NGHs. | ||
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| Fig. 11 Schematic representation of the construction process based on the sustained release of CaO-loaded microcapsules for supplemental heat-based exploitation. | ||
(2) The sustained-release microcapsules show significant exothermic effects. Based on CaO, 1R–CaO, and 3R–CaO, the decomposition rates of the NGHs were 36.2, 17.7, and 11.1 mmol h−1, respectively, while the exothermic time were 0.16, 1.18, and 6.68 h, respectively.
(3) We employed CaO-loaded microcapsules and depressurization to exploit NGHs and proposed a construction process based on depressurization and filling combined with in situ supplemental heat for exploiting NGHs, thereby providing a theoretical and technical basis for effectively exploiting NGHs.
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